Homework Question on Operation Efficiency
- Question 1: You are an administrative staff specialist newly employed by the hospital to act as a management engineer and address a number of issues relating to operating efficiency. Your first assignment is to analyze work methods and staffing in the central sterile supply division of materials management. The department was singled out for study because: • The manager, a registered nurse who has held the job for more than 25 years, has requested two more processing aides although her staff is already one person larger than that of another area hospital of equivalent size. Instructions Develop a proposed approach to a complete study of the department, including the “sales pitch” you would use to try winning the manager’s cooperation and support, specifying what should be done, why it should be done, and how you propose to address the inevitable resistance of both manager and staff.
- Question 2:What do we mean by “mission” of a healthcare organization? Write your own Mission Statement for a community hospital in which you find yourself as a member of the Management Team.
- Question 3: You are the Director of Respiratory Therapy. Consistent with the organization’s mission as expressed in the exam item above, develop a Statement of Philosophy for your department. Write one major policy that supports the above philosophy. What are some specific procedures that express aspects of the above policy as instructions for action?
- Question 4: Consider the following statement: “Plans in and of themselves are not especially useful; however, the planning process is invaluable.” In essay form, thoroughly explain what you believe is meant by this statement. It will be necessary to examine the statement from both directions. That is, explain the truth (or lack thereof) in the comment about plans not being especially useful, then proceed to explain the supposedly greater value of the planning process.
- Question 5: You are an RRT employed at a large urban medical center. You have been appointed to serve as a non managerial member of a steering committee established to guide the implementation of TQM throughout the organization.
Homework Answer on Operation Efficiency
Question 1:
Operation efficiency may refer to the delivery of goods and services in the most cost-effective manner and still maintain the quality of goods and services so provided. It is evident that there is so much wastage in the hospital’s division of sterile supply of materials. The work methods are poor, and there are no set schedules for duties. The manager should conduct an evaluation of the materials that are frequently used by the hospital. The evaluation may be through such methods as undertaking a stock-taking or actual item counts.
The evaluation will help the department in reducing costs by not ordering items that are not frequently used by the hospital. The space previously used for storage of these items may be used to create more space for the decontamination. Less stock of items will call for less manual labor requirement that in turn will help the department deal with the overcrowding problem in the storage area.
Trying to apply changes to the status quo will breed resistance from both the manager and the staff. Emphasizing new strategies and standards of delivery coupled with participation, such as new inventory control systems will help in dealing with resistance. Most if not all people love challenges and new ways of working will be a motivator.